TNE Report Card for May 2004

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Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the news on a day to day basis. Here are the highlight from the Neopets news page for this month...

New area discovered: Kreludor What is Kreludor you ask? It is Neopia's moon of course, home to a large colony of Orange Grundos and lots more... Click here to visit. It was recently discovered due to its orbit around Neopia taking it extremely close to the Space Station! (May 6, 2004)

Today Neopets released the last part of the Battle for Meridell. Three months, fifteen parts, and countless squished spiders later it is all over. (May 13, 2004)

New band! They are loud, orange and they come from Kreludor - introducing the one and only Gründo!!! Watch for them at the Tyrannian Concert Hall soon. (May 21, 2004)

v You can paint your Grundo Orange, just like the Grundos on Kreludor. (May 5, 2004)

v If you own a Grundo or Bruce, you can now paint them Striped. (May 10, 2004)

v In addition to the makeover for Koi Day, there is a new color you can paint your Koi - PLUSHIE. (May 25, 2004)

v Cybunnies can now be painted with the Lost Desert Paint Brush! Too bad those brushes are retired... (May 27, 2004)

v Introducing the 47th Neopet - the Yurble! To mark this very special occassion they are going to release all kinds of Yurble themed things. Before you ask, Yurbles are not limited edition, so anyone can adopt one. If you want to find out more about Yurbles, why not visit www.neopets.com/yurble? (May 28, 2004)

v You can now draw Yurbles with ease using the new How To Draw guide. (May 28, 2004)

q Onas, Warfs and Miamice can be painted Purple at the Petpet Puddle. (May 4, 2004)

q They have updated the look of the Abominable Snowball, and they can now be painted Red and Spotted. (May 7, 2004)

q Weewoos can now be painted Plushie, Grey and Pink at the Petpet Puddle. (May 11, 2004)

q Now you can own your very own Tyrannian Angelpuss, Slorg, Spardel and Babaa. (May 12, 2004)

q Vullards can now be painted Plushie, Pink, Pirate and Grey at the Petpet Puddle. (May 13, 2004)

q Noils and Doglefoxes can be painted Purple at the Petpet Puddle. (May 17, 2004)

q If you own a N-4 Information Retrieval Bot, you can now paint it Red, Yellow, Green and Pink. (May 17, 2004)

q Weewoos can be painted red, green, blue and yellow at the Petpet Puddle. (May 20, 2004)

q Three new Petpets have been seen wandering around Neopia - the Haseepuss, Popblew and Wuzzer... (May 24, 2004)

As with all good help sites, the pages on the Neopian Educator are always under construction. Suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome. Simply fill out the automatic comment form.

Work continues on the upcoming museum. This project is rather large, but at least you can get a quick look at it here. Note that these pages are still very much under construction. If you have anything you’d like to contribute, please send it to: Naomi_Tran@baylor.edu

Games on Neopets are in a constant state of change and these changes are often not listed in the news. Here are the changes for this month:

a NEW GAME - What better way to celebrate this year’s Tyrannian Victory Day than by playing a pleasant round of Mini Golf? (May 14, 2004)

a OK…technically, this isn’t a new game, but it IS a new area for old games. Ever wondered what happens to games once they are removed from the site? They go to a place so vile and terrible only a brave few dare venture in... the Game Graveyard. (May 18, 2004)

a They have just launched Freaky Factory, a game where you have to help produce little plastic miniatures by dropping blobs of liquid Kreludite into vats. Sounds confusing? You wait till you play it! (May 18, 2004) They increased the Neopoints you get from playing Freaky Factory by 50%. (May 19, 2004)

a NEW GAME - Looks like some poor, down on their luck miners need a bit of help. They aren't planning global domination, or working for some evil overlord - of course they aren't! Click to play Kreludan Mining Corp.. (May 25, 2004)

Neopets updated Tyrannian Mini Golf by adding a skip hole button. This will be exceptionally useful on level 4. (May 17, 2004)

If you know of anything that was overlooked, or have suggestions or even constructive criticisms, use this form.

Game Graveyard

Rather than a “Featured Game” this month, TNE will be spotlighting the new game area: the Game Graveyard. This area is the “final resting place” for old games that have been taken down for one reason or another. It appears that the old sponsor games will not be added (probably due to trademark/name use issues), but some of the older games may be routed to this area. You won't be able to send score however, and there are no high score tables, but you may still enjoy this visit to the past.

c Techo Says – Watch the order the pets appear and repeat the pattern.

c Kau Korral - Help the gelert "Korral" all the kaus into the barn before time runs out.

c Whack-A-Beast – Use the mouse to guide the mallet and the space bar to hit the beast. Hitting the pets will cost you points.

c Ice Caves – Use the arrow keys to help guide Garon the Lupe through the maze.

c Faerie Caves – Garon returns in another maze game…except you need to solve them in a certain order.

c Omelette Defender – Protect the omelette from being eaten. Equip the right weapon to use against each enemy.

c Neo DJ – Help DJ Roo become the grandmaster. Watch the moves and duplicate them.

c Scorchio’s Quest I – The Pant Devil has stolen the Fire Faerie’s orb…it’s up to you to get it back.

c Freaky Factory – Drop Kreludite into the indicated vat to make miniature toys.

c Earth Faerie Aces – Use your tractor beam to capture a pod and place it on a flower…while fighting difficult controls and trying to avoid walls.

As more and more of these are added, they will also be added to our page. Their location/status will be included to avoid confusion.

From time to time, real life intrudes on “online life”. For example, you may go on vacation and don’t have access to a computer or you may become so busy with work or school assignments that you cannot spend much time on your favorite sites. Eventually, though, things return to normal and you come back to find that things have changed in Neopia. Depending on how long you have been gone, you may simply be able to take a quick look at the news page and see what you have missed. Unfortunately, if you have missed more than a day or two or there is a new plot in place, you’ll need to do a little more digging to find all the changes.

1. Use the news page as a starting point and follow all the links to the ends. Check each link that the story follows and this will bring you up to speed with the major points. Parts of plotlines will link to each other and can be followed fairly easily this way. Don’t be afraid to use the “back” button to recheck something.

2. Ask your friends. Friends usually share several common interests, so it stands to reason that they will know which changes are more likely to be important to you because it will have been important enough for them to check on it themselves. For example, if you are both interested in avatars, they can quickly bring you up to speed on the ones you missed and how to get them. If you are both interested in the games, they can point you to the newest additions or changes.

3. Watch the chat boards. The key word here is “watch”. If you are looking for fairly new information, take a minute to see what is already posted before you ask about something that many people have already (or are currently) discussing. That way, you are more likely to not only get a glimpse of the bigger picture but more importantly, are not as likely to be ignored by users who are tired of repeating themselves. If you do not see what you are looking for on the posts that already exist, then ask your question. Keep in mind that the older the information you are asking about, the longer it may take to get an accurate answer.

4. Check out the fan sites. While you should always be cautious about sites you are not familiar with, there are many well done fan sites that are both safe and up-to-date. Some of these specialize in certain subjects like items or areas (TNE again recommends neoitems.net for all your item information needs.) and some are more interactive than others (such as bulletin boards for members). All should hopefully provide you with accurate information in an easy to find manner. Many of them will have site indexes and search features to make information hunting a little bit easier. Most of them will have a way to contact people if you need more help. None of them should ever ask for any personal information or login information. If you are using a search engine, be sure to take advantage of the “last updated” information (if available) to help narrow your searches. Obviously anything that hasn’t been updated in a fairly long time will not have the information you need.

Remember, you can always contact me through the comment form or through neomail.

Name: Stick of Butter
Available: Gross food
Neopet’s Description: You can’t expect anyone to eat this, I mean it’s just a stick of butter!
TNE’s Description: Butter is so natural it contains only one ingredient: fresh cream. (If you like, you can also add a pinch of salt at the end.)

TNE Teacher’s Pet Award
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Contents

Game Graveyard